September 3, 2004

OU Website Prepares Observant Jews for Hurricane Frances

If Hurricane Frances hits on Saturday, stay in your house. Except of course, if you’ve already been evacuated.

This may seem like obvious advice, but for Orthodox Jews, staying home from synagogue on the Sabbath is almost unheard of. However, according to a list of Shabbat protocols listed on the homepage of the Orthodox Union’s website, www.ou.org, compiled by Rabbi Kenneth Brander of the Boca Raton Synagogue, attending services, like many other religiously proscribed activities, is not required in a life-threatening situation.

Given the usual Sabbath prohibitions like using electricity, carrying outside the home, or listening to radio and watching TV, the OU website reflects the concern that observant Jews may attempt to adhere to these restrictions, even in a life-threatening situation. According to Judaism, however, the preservation of human life overrides religious law (halacha) and absolutely requires the curtailment of Sabbath restrictions in the face of such need. Of course, such changes should be kept to a minimum in order to preserve the spirit of the Sabbath as much as possible, and, in the case of Hurricane Frances, Rabbi Brander created the protocols with this in mind.

“In halacha, human life is paramount,” explained Rabbi Mayer Waxman, OU Director of Community Affairs. “Therefore, whenever there is risk to personal well-being, the usually strict laws must be set aside to the extent that is necessary.”

That’s why the Hurricane Halachot website is so essential for observant Jews. The instructions include how to deal with anyone who is injured and with the care of young children. They also clarify such situations as when it would be permissible to change batteries in a flashlight, carry medicine to a neighbor’s house, turn on lights, move a candle, or even listen to the radio or TV.

These Hurricane protocols were first produced in 2003 by Rabbi Brander, with the help of Rabbi Hershel Schachter, professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and a consultant on Jewish law to the Orthodox Union. The Boca Raton Synagogue, which Rabbi Brander heads, is one of a network of hundreds of synagogues across North America which belongs to the Orthodox Union.

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The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of North America and beyond, is a world leader in community and synagogue services, adult education, youth work through NCSY, political action through the IPA, and advocacy for persons with disabilities through Yachad and Our Way. Its kosher supervision label, the , is the world’s most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 275,000 products manufactured in 68 countries around the globe.

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